Rotary brush



Deco fi, 1966 a. E. NELSON 3,28%,235

ROTARY BRUSH Filed Oct. ll, 1965 INVENTOR BROOKS E. ll/ELSO/V BY 0% M wm ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,289,235 ROTARY BRUSH Brooks E.Nelson, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor to The Osborn ManufacturingCompany, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Oct. 11, 1965,Ser. No. 494,688 8 Claims. (Cl. 15-200) This application is acontinuation-impart of my copending application Serial No. 424,542,filed January 11, 1965, Brush Construction.

This invention relates as indicated to a rotary brush, and moreparticularly to a novel cup brush whichv is inexpensive of manufacturebut of high quality and long life.

It is old in the art to produce power driven rotary brushes includingcup brushes in which the bristles have been preliminarily assembled intotufts, ordinarily by twisting together, and then inserted and secured inan appropriate hub or back. It is often difficult to secure a brush faceof desired bristle density in this manner and also, when utilizing veryhard stiff metal wires, for ex- 7 ample, as brush fill material, it isdifficult to bend such wires either to form such twisted tufts or forsecuring in the brush back, at least without damage to the same.Exceptionally stiff or brittle brush fill material may fracture whensharply bent about a retaining member, and brushes manufactured in theusual manner normally require trimming of the finished brush face inorder to obtain the desired uniformity.

It is accordingly an important object of this invention to provide anovel rotary brush wherein a plurality of brush bristle tufts arepreliminarily assembled and secured by means of encircling bands orclips, without excessive flexing of the bristles, and the tufts thusproduced are then inserted and retained within an appropriate holder orbrush back.

Still another object is to provide a novel cup brush having superiorcharacteristics in use and which is adapted for quick and inexpensivemanufacture with semi-automatic machinery.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said inventionthen comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexeddrawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of theinvention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the variousways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a power driven rotary cup brush embodying theprinciples of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section therethrough taken on the line 22 onFIG. 1 1

Referring now more particularly to said drawing, the preferredembodiment of the invention there illustrated comprises a cup brushhaving an integral steel body 1 having a central hub portion 2 with acentral axial aperture 3 therethrough for mounting on an appropriateshaft or arbor of a power driven brushing lathe or the like. Such hubportion 2 may project slightly in one direction to form an axial boss asshown in FIG. 2 and the opposite end face of the steel body 1 may behollowed out to provide a generally cup shaped recess 4. Acircumferential portion of body 1 projects uniformly radially outwardlyto provide a circumferential step or shoulder 5 against which the innerends of the bristles of the respective tufts are adapted to be seated. Asmaller circumferential ridge 6 is also provided adjacent the outer edgeof cup 4, for a purpose to be explained below.

The brush fill material is provided in the form of a number of preformedbrush bristle tufts, each of which comprises a bundle of bristles 7which may be of crimped wire, for example. These tufts or bundles areindividually clipped together by sheet metal clips or bands 8 whichencircle the basal portions of the respective bundles.

These bands may be locally indented as at 9 to assist in tightlygripping the bundle of bristles. The bristles of each bundle arecarefully cut to length so that a true normally fiat end face isafforded each tuft, and each tuft is substantially identical in size andshape, thus facilitating automatic feeding and handling of the tuftsprior to and during assembly of the, finished brushes.

A plurality of these tufts are now assembled to the steel body 1 byseating the short protruding ends of the tufts against circumferentialshelf or step 5 with the opposite ends of sheet metal sleeves 8 engagedsnugly beneath circumferential ridge 6. A continuous sheet metal sleeveor cylindrical annulus 10 is then slipped over the assembly snugly toengage the outer surfaces of such bands or clips 8 and the lower edgeportion 11 of such annulus is deformed or crimped inwardly to engage ina corresponding shallow circumferential recess 12 in the metal body,while the upper edge portion 13 is similarly deformed radially inwardlyto overlie and engage the same edges of the clips or hands 8 which aresecured beneath the circumferential ridge 6. It will thus be seen thatthe several components are securely locked together into a single unitwithout employment of screws, bolts, or other special attaching meansand the resultant brush requires no further trimming or finishingoperations to be performed thereon. If desired, an adhesive such as anopoxy cement may be applied to the surface of step 5 prior to seating ofthe bristle tufts thereon.

Cup brushes produced in the manner described above have severalpractical advantages. In the first place, by banding the individualbundles of brush material, the handling of such brush material duringmanufacture is much simplified, crimped wire bristle material beingnotoriously difiicult to manage when handled loose. The individual bandsalso permit shaping of the component bundles or tufts to desiredcontour, and in the example illustrated it will be noted that such tuftsare desirably of somewhat elongated cross-section and may be slightlywider at the outer side face to compensate for the difference betweenthe inner and outer circumference of the brush face in the finishedtool.

While crimped wire brush fill material is suitable for employment in thebrushes of the present invention as above described, it willnevertheless be appreciated that a wide variety of different brush fillmaterials may be utilized including hard straight plastic beaded wire(see Patent No. 3,090,061), plastic coated wire, Tampico fiber, andplastic monofilaments such as nylon and the like. In certain instances,particularly when utilizing relatively hard brittle brush bristlematerial, it may also be advantageous to impregnate the butt portions ofthe tufts which are encircled by the clamping bands or clips with asuitable elastomeric material such as foamed polyurethane.

The preferred form of the new cup brush of this invention accordinglycomprises a generally cup-shaped body having a central axial aperturetherethrough for mounting on a shaft or the like, such body having acircumferential radially outwardly projecting portion affording acontinuous fiat shoulder against which the inner ends of the crimpedwire bristle tufts are seated. The outer end portions of such tuftsextend parallel to the axis of rotation of the body a substantialdistance beyond the cupped end of the latter. Tuft confining andsupporting means in the form of sheet metal bands, for example, grip thebasal portions of the respective tufts and desirably shape each tuft toan elongated cross-section circumt r tiel of e h u aw ntheradia y 9. tr..129

of each tuft being wider than the radially inner portion thereof. Thetufts engage each other closely circumferentially of the-brush formutual support and to afford a circumferentially continuous, brush face.A circumferential radially outwardly projecting shallow ridge on thebody spaced axially from such shoulder closely overlies and engages theouter ends of the tuft bands, and a generally cylindrical sheet metalsleeve encircles the body and tuft assembly and snugly engages the outersurface of such bands- The lower edge portion of the sleeve is radiallyinwardly deformed and received within a shallow circumferential groovein the body below the shoulder,

and the upper edge portion of the sleeve is radially inwardly deformedto overlie and engage the same edges of such bands which are securedbeneath the circumferential ridge. The'sleeve is thus itself securedagainst axial displacement while holding the entire assembly lockedtogether. l

It will be seen from the foregoing that a novel form of power drivenrotary brush hasbeen provided which is not only adapted to high speedassembly and manufacture, with consequent reduction in cost, butfwhichis also superior in uniformity of fill, balance and brush face trim.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention detailsdescribed, provided the features stated in any'of the following claimsor the equivalent of such be em- ,1

ployed. I

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A rotary cup brush comprising a steel, generally cup-shaped bodyhaving a central axial'apertur'e therethrough for mounting on a shaft orthe like, said body having a crcumferential radially outwardlyprojecting portion affording a continuous flat shoulder, a plurality ofcrimped wire bristle tufts arranged with their inner ends extendingparallel to the axis of rotation of said body a substantial distancebeyond the cupped end of the latter,

sheet metal bands respectively encircling and clamping seated againstsaid shoulder and their outer end portions inner ends of the latter andshaping each tuft to an elongated cross-section circumferentially ofsaid brush with the radially outer portion of each tuft being wider thanthe radially inner portion thereof, said tufts engaging each otherclosely circumferentially of the brush for mutual support and to afforda circumferentially continuous prove its grip on the correspondingbristle tuft, a circumferential radially outwardly projecting shallowridge on said body spaced axially from said shoulder and closelyoverlying and engaging the outer ends of said bands, and

a generally cylindrical sheet metal sleeve encircling the" body and tuftassembly and snugly engaging the outer surfaces of said bands, the loweredge portion of said sleeve being radially inwardly deformed andreceived jwithin a shallow circumferential groove in said body belowsaid shoulder, and the upper edge portion of ,said

1 sleeve being radially inwardly deformed to overlie and :engage thesame edges of said bands which are secured beneath said circumferentialridge.

2. A rotary brush comprising a circular body having a central axialaperture therethrough' for mounting ona shaft or the like, said bodyhaving a circumferential ,radially outwardly projecting portionaffording a contin- .uous shoulder, a plurality of bristle tuftsarranged with their inner ends seated against said shoulder and theirclosely circumferentially of the brush for mutual supbrush face eachsaid band being indented further to im port and to afford acircumferentiallycontinuous brush face, a circumferential radiallyoutwardly projecting shallow ridge on said body spaced axially from saidshoulder and closely overlying and engaging the outer ends of said tuftclamping means, and a generally cylindrical sleeve encircling the bodyand tuft assembly and snugly engaging the outer surfaces of saidclamping means, the lower edge portion of said sleeve being radiallyinwardly deformed below said shoulder, and the upper edge portion ofsaid sleeve being'radially inwardly deformed to overlie and engage thesame edges of said clamping means which are secured beneath saidcircumferential ridge.

3. A rotary brush comprising a circular body adapted to be centrallymounted on a shaft or the like, said body having a circumferentialradially outwardly projecting portion affording'a shoulder, apluralityof bristle tufts arranged with their inner ends seated against saidshoulder and their outer ends extending parallel to the axis of rotationof said body beyond the end of the latter, clamping meansrespectively'encircling and clamping the basal portions of saidindividual tufts adjacent such inner ends of the latter, -acircumferential radially outwardly projecting shallow ridge on said bodyspaced axially from said shoulder and closely overlying and engaging theouter ends of said tuft clamping means, andretaining means encirclingthe body. and tuft assembly and snugly engaging the outer surfaces ofsaid clamping means thereby to hold said tufts secured by said ridge andseated against said shoulder.

'4. The brush of claim 3,. wherein said retaining means is a generallycylindrical sleeve having its lower edge portion inwardly deformed andreceived into a groove in said body below said shoulder to assist inresisting axial displacement of said sleeve.

5. The brush of claim 3, wherein said retaining means is agenerallycylindrical sleeve having its lower edge portion inwardlydeformed and received into a groove insaid body below said-shoulder toassist in resisting axial displacement of said sleeve, and the upperedge portion of said sleeve is radially inwardly deformed to overlie andengage the same edges of said tuft clamping means which are securedbeneath said circumferential ridge.

'6. The. brush of claim 3, wherein said tufts are of elongatedcross-section circumferentially of the brush.

7. The. brush of claim 3, wherein the cross-section of each individualtuft is wider at the radially outer side of the brush face than at theradially inner side of the brush face.

. 8'. A rotary brush comprising a circular body adapted to be centrallymounted for rotation about its axis, a

radially outwardly projecting portion circumferentially of said bodyaffording a shoulder, a plurality of tufts of brush References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,562 4/1935" Sturgis 15-180 XR2,325,629 8/1943"Peterson 15-180 XR 2,771,922 11/1956 Gyllenberg 15 1s0XR FOREIGN PATENTS 456,984 3/1928 Germany. 918,526 2/1963 Great Britain.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

PETER FELDMAN, Assistant Examiner.

8. A ROTARY BRUSH COMPRISING A CIRCULAR BODY ADAPTED TO BE CENTRALLY MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT ITS AXIS, A RADIALLY OUTWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF SAID BODY AFFORDING A SHOULDER, A PLURALITY OF TUFTS OF BRUSH MATERIAL ARRANGED WITH THEIR INNER ENDS SEATED AGAINST SAID HOULDER AND THEIR OUTER ENDS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SUCH AXIS BEYOND THE END OF SAID BODY, INDIVIDUAL TUFT CONFINING AND SUPPORTING MEANS GRIPPING THE BASAL PORTIONS OF SAID RESPECTIVE TUFTS, AND CONTINUOUS CIRCUMFERENTIAL RETAINING MEANS IN THE FORM OF A SEPARATE ENCIRCLING RING ENGAGING SAID CONFINING AND SUPPORTING MEANS TO HOLD SAID TUFTS FIRMLY SEATED AGAINST SAID SHOULDER IN USE. 